


Extra Hands

by zarabithia



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Community: dcu_freeforall, Multi, Threesome, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-09
Updated: 2011-03-09
Packaged: 2017-10-16 21:12:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/169398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaldur, Garth and Tula take a second try at fixing the awkwardness in their friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Extra Hands

There was the slightest of pauses as Kaldur spoke, in which Garth ached to say more. But by the time the words formed in his throat, Kaldur had already stepped through the portal, and back into the surface world.

Swallowing down what he wanted to say, he squeezed Tula's hand in his and waited to be dismissed by the king.

"There aren't going to be any more lessons today," the queen told them. "You performed admirably today, both of you, and deserve a rest."

Garth averted his gaze as the king's hand tightened around the queen's stomach, but he nodded respectfully, and his hand still in Tula's, took his leave.

"My roommate has tutoring lessons tonight," Tula told him as they departed. "And I think we should definitely take advantage of the situation so we can _talk._ "

It was not nearly as hard to sneak into Tula's bedchambers as it had been, a month ago, when he had been new at it. There was a similar feeling of discomfort in Garth's stomach as he lied next to Tula, as there had been that first time. But this time, the feeling had nothing to do with her, or the fear of getting caught, and was accompanied by a sadness at least two months old.

"Your mind wanders," Tula noted, raising on her elbow to stare down at him. Her fingers twirled in his hair, and Garth reached up to do the same, automatically.

Even as he did so, he wondered what her hair would look like on Kaldur's surface world, without the water flowing so freely through it.

She was _so_ beautiful. And, as she consistently proved with every one of their lessons - and in the battle they'd fought to save their home - so very strong. Surely any sacrifice he'd made had been worth it.

Even, he tried to convince himself, if that sacrifice had been that of his best friend.

"I guess I am a bit distracted," he admitted.

"You're thinking of Kaldur, too?" Tula guessed, and Garth felt better, knowing his mind wasn't the only one wandering. But then, Kaldur had been friend to them both, before their affections for Tula had grown.

"Our reunion didn't go the way I had hoped it would," Garth admitted.

"We knew he'd probably be upset," Tula reminded him. She lowered herself onto his chest and wrapped her arms around him.

"But he barely acknowledged me as a friend," Garth said, petulantly. "In his eyes, I was solely _yours_ and ... and practically his enemy. He was my _best_ friend, Tula. I - I hate to think that I have lost that friendship. But it feels like I already have."

"Kaldur is the most reasonable man I know," Tula said soothingly. "I'm sure he will come around."

"I hope so. Maybe I'm just being selfish, but..." Garth squeezed her tightly against him, relishing her hug in return. "But I wished to have you _both._ "

Tula sat up slowly. "Oh, Garth," she said, a peculiar smile on her face. "If that was what you wanted, we really went about this whole reunion the wrong way."

~~~

It was difficult, at first, to convince Garth. Tula didn't push it; the relationship with Garth was still too new for that. As much as she was willing to nudge Garth the right direction, Tula didn't want to push him away completely.

She understood that it took time, that what she was proposing was not the norm for the men of their world. Among women, Queen Mera had told her, such relationships were much common. "Less prone to fighting over _territory_ ," Queen Mera put it. "We might have greater equality than some stories I have heard of the surface world, Tula, but the same system that makes the king the head of our home, instead of the queen, makes them less inclined to share nicely."

Tula had listened to her queen's advice, and she had filed the knowledge away, while pretending that it didn't show that the queen knew more about her personal troubles than was strictly appropriate.

Nor did Tula share that popular opinion had both Kaldur and Garth being stubborn about the issue. Even as Garth's disappointment grew each time that "Aqualad" came home for brief visits before returning to the surface world and did not take time out to visit them. It was a realization and decision that all three of them had to come to, on their own.

But two months did not take particularly long to turn into six, and when the time neared for Queen Mera to give birth, Garth turned to Tula and said, "Kaldur's stay will be extended beginning tomorrow night. Perhaps we can put your plan into action, then?"

He sounded nervous and unsure, but also hopeful, and it was the latter that Tula focused on.

"I'm sure we can lull him away from the queen's side long enough to have our talk," she agreed.

Garth's eyes shown brightly as she lowered herself down onto him. "I hope so," he murmured, before claiming her lips.

Tula didn't have any fears that Kaldur would speak to them; she feared only that Kaldur would be as difficult to convince as Garth had been.

~~~

Kaldur expected a certain degree of awkwardness, when he returned. That was why he spent as long at the new prince's chamber as possible. But his king and queen dismissed him, after securing a promise from him to return in the morning, and he was left standing outside the prince's chamber next to Tula and Garth.

Uncertainty filled him, but remaining quiet would have given the impression of a grudge. It was important for his friends not to think that way of him. "The two of you look well."

Tula and Garth exchanged looks, which should have made him feel more like an outsider than Kaldur already did. But for reasons he couldn't immediately place the quickening of anticipation in his stomach was not accompanied by a feeling of loneliness, as he expected it might be.

"You should come with us," Garth said, his voice rushed beyond its normal speed. Kaldur looked for an explanation on Garth's face and finding none, he turned to Tula.

"It is late," Kaldur began, but Tula shook her head.

"It's not so very late, Kaldur. Besides you been gone for a long while - "

" _Six months_ ," Garth emphasized.

"And we have missed your company," Tula stated imploringly.

Garth reached and took Kaldur's hand in his. Once, their friendship had been stable enough that Kaldur would not have been surprised. Today their friendship felt as though it rested in much more shallow waters and Kaldur couldn't help the small jubilation that filled him with the unexpected act. "Have your surface friends replaced us so thoroughly that you no longer have need of our friendship?"

"Of course not." Kaldur cared for his teammates greatly, but the type of companionship that came with being best friends was not easily duplicated. Kaldur considered that his fingers were just as different from Garth and Tula's fingers as they were from his teammates. Yet the distant sensation of being different, that Kaldur so often felt when his teammates' hands brushed his or their eyes lingered a little longer than could be considered idle curiosity, did not befall him with Garth's hand in his.

That fact alone was enough to entice Kaldur to follow Tula as she began to swim away. Garth did not remove his hand from Kaldur's, and Kaldur saw no reason to remove his hand, either.

He was somewhat startled to find their end destination to be Tula's bedchambers. But Garth tugged with one hand, and Tula reached for the other, and before he knew it, Kaldur was inside.

"I'm not sure this is entirely proper," Kaldur admitted.

"Oh, it's not. It's absolutely _improper_ ," Tula answered. "Or, at least, we hope it ends up that way."

"But don't worry," Garth assured him. "Lorena has Dolphin over at her place for some ... _tutoring_ tonight. So no one is going to be witness to any of our impropriety."

"Except the people in this room," Tula added.

"What exactly are you suggesting?" Kaldur asked slowly. He had presumed once, with Tula. He would not be so quick to do so again.

"We want you to join us," Tula answered. Her hand squeezed his, whether to reassure him or herself, Kaldur wasn't sure. "In many different varieties of impropriety."

"That is, if you want to," Garth said hurriedly. "Only if you want to."

Glancing at Garth, Kaldur remembered their earlier years. Once, Garth had been much more unsure of himself, and Kaldur was reminded of that version of his friend instead of the confident magic-wielding warrior who had taken his place.

"We have already established my desire for Tula," Kaldur reminded Garth.

"But not of your desire for me," Garth stated, though the uncertainty in his tone made it a question. "Are you comfortable with my presence, as well?"

"I have called you the best of my friends," Kaldur reminded. "Though we have had our differences in the past, I would hope our friendship would not be so weak that it could not withstand a storm or two."

Garth's shoulders straightened, and the lack of confidence disappeared across his features. "It is _not_ ," he proclaimed. "I simply worried, because we've never noticed you expressing desire for _men_ , before."

"Perhaps you did not pay close enough attention," Kaldur admonished. "Or perhaps my teammates, who care not about gender, species, or genetic origin in the course of their sexual attractions, have made me more comfortable in making my affections more _obvious_."

"Then we owe them a debt," Tula said cheerfully.

"Maybe someday we can accompany you to the surface to thank your teammates in person," Garth suggested.

Kaldur wondered if Garth's intent was for his words to sound as _seedy_ as the direction that Kaldur's mind took them. But only for a moment, before he brushed the thought away.

"I would like that," he admitted. "But there will be time for that discussion later."

He worried that perhaps his comment rushed things too much. But then Tula smiled at him before she summoned extra hands to help her remove Garth's clothing. The extra hands may not have been necessary, but the way Garth wriggled beneath them made them a very attractive sight.

Memories of Wally's questions about _tentacles_ danced in his mind, but Kaldur ignored them.

"Not exactly what my studies were meant for," Tula admitted. "But useful, wouldn't you say?"

"Kaldur's had his studies as well," Garth pointed out, and his violet eyes looked at Kaldur with a friendly challenge.

"Indeed I have," Kaldur answered, as one of Tula's extra hands tugged at his pants. "Let me show you how useful _my_ studies have been."

Stepping forward, he paused only briefly to consider which of his friends to touch first. Although he might not have had as many hands as Tula at the present, he decided that two hands were enough to allow him to choose _both_.


End file.
